Pixie In The Labyrinth
by QueenSpicyTea
Summary: Ellen, when playing pretend with Kate, who was returned to her, wished the young girl away. Now the pixie Kaye, who had things going right for her for a change, has been pulled into this by Ellen, to retrieve Kate in thirteen hours from everyone's favorite Goblin King. But it's even trickier when the Labyrinth is ever changing, and someone has been pitted against Kaye...
1. Chapter 1

Kaye sighed. She was enjoying a nice life with Roiben, king of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Her "mother"- who was her guardian when Kaye the pixie still thought herself human- had been returned the real Kaye, Kate. Life was going steadily, and Kaye did own her coffee shop in Ironside.

But of course, peace never does last too long in Faery.

Ellen- the guardian mentioned previously- ran into the coffee shop, looking distressed.

"I need to talk to you. Privately."

This sent chills down Kaye's spine. She ran a hand through her blonde hair, remembering the last time her former mother and Kaye had talked, but the teen relented.

"Fine. In the back."

Ellen sat down on a chair in the small back room. "What's up?" Kaye asked. She wished Ellen still cared for her. Any. At all. Ellen had raised Kaye. She could hardly believe the older woman would turn her back on her like that, but she had.

So Kaye figured it must be pretty important if Ellen came to her for help.

"It's about Kate," Ellen's mother explained.

Kaye retained a cool exterior. "What about her?"

"We were reading a story. A story called _Labyrinth_."

Kaye froze. She remembered Roiben telling her about the Labyrinth. It was ruled by a king, a king not a solitary, Seelie, or Unseelie faerie, for he ruled his own kingdom, hidden, far away. Roiben stressed that he was more powerful than he seemed, and never to call on him when Kaye had first heard the tale.

Then, Kaye realized.

"You didn't. You didn't."

Ellen sighed. "We were joking around, playing a game. I wished her away- I didn't mean it!" The woman defended. "We were playing a game, and he... He..."

"Jareth wouldn't return her," Kaye finished.

Ellen nodded. "Unless I completed his labyrinth. But I couldn't go, so I... I..."

Kaye's eyes widened with realization. "You didn't. Mo- Ellen, you didn't. You wouldn't."

"I told him you would go, and retrieve her, instead."

Kaye thought she might choke for a moment. She blinked, and when her eyes opened, she was outside the Labyrinth.


	2. Chapter 2

"You must be Kaye, yes?" A British accent asked Kaye from behind. She turned, coming face to face with the Goblin King, and nodded.

"Ah, do we really have need for such petty, petty glamour?" Jareth condescendingly remarked. With a wave of his hand, the glamour Kaye had daunted for her work in the coffee shop was gone, her extra knuckles on her fingers, green skin, and pitch black eyes, now were visible. "Much better," Jareth remarked.

Kaye studied him a moment. Her only comfort was that his labyrinth had once, though only once, been defeated. By a teenager, named Sarah, the labyrinth was destroyed. Kaye also reminded herself that the Labyrinth was built to ward off mortals, not faeries. That gave Kaye a sort of edge.

"You have thirteen hours to get to the center of the labyrinth, but do I really need to explain? Surely Roiben has told you the tale," Jareth remarked. Kaye looked up at him. Did he know Roiben personally?

Jareth, though, had vanished, leaving Kaye to start the Labyrinth.

Quietly, she approached the walls.

* * *

Kaye at least had her faerie sight, it made the door easier to find. It creaked open as she stepped into it.

The inside seemed to have wet walls, as though a rain had freshly fallen, with sticks and twigs along the path, covered in glitter. Kaye looked one way, then the other, and saw that it had no turns in sight. The pixie thought a moment. She remembered from her childhood, when on a tour with Ellen, that she had visited a corn maze. It often had cuts in the walls of corn to get through.

This gave Kaye an idea. She put her hand warily against the wall- slightly uncomfortable with the slimy substance covering it, and began to walk, slowly. Kaye knew she didn't have much time, but she had learned from her past quests. Rushing things didn't always work. Soon, Kaye found a hole in the wall, and darted into it.

* * *

Jareth sighed from his throne room. Kate sat in what looked like a hole, or a play pen. He watched the pixie who had been volunteered for his labyrinth from one of his crystals.

Jareth was worried. Once, once had his labyrinth been defeated, and the victor had not been able to figure this trick out on her own. Admittedly, others had, yet had been stumped later on, but Jareth had just regained his full power. He did not want to go through rebuilding his strength again.

That's when he realized that perhaps a trip to Ironside- which many the solitary fey had dubbed the Aboveground- was in order.

* * *

Sarah was comfortable, calm, reading on a book. Due to her trip to the labyrinth and constant visits from Ludo, Hoggly, Sir Didymus, and her other friends from the Underground- as she had heard the realm of faery called- Sarah had developed the sight. It benefited her greatly sometimes, though she was always slow to receive news. She had just heard a few days ago a new king of the Seelie and Unseelie courts had been crowned, with a pixie for a queen. From what Sarah could gather, the fact he chose a pixie to wed was quite scandalous.

But despite the visits from her friends, she had not expected a visit from the Goblin King, whom Sarah had not seen in many years.

"Jareth!" Sarah exclaimed, seeing a barn owl banging against the window. She got up to open it, then hesitated. Jareth had not visited her, ever. Sarah reasoned that he might still be hurt at her rejection of his offer to stay in the Labyrinth, or he might hold a grudge against her. Jareth might be there for revenge. But, Sarah reasoned, it could also be important.

She opened the window, and Jareth returned to his faerie form on her windowsill.

"My, my, how good it is to see you Sarah. You've grown," Jareth mused. His fondness for her, which had been buried deep within, seemed to rekindle. Like how one might get seeing their crush the first time after summer break.

"I highly doubt you came here for small talk," Sarah chided. She was still very wary of the Goblin King, who had not appeared to age a day.

Jareth frowned. "So impatient," He chastised, but continued. "You are right, though. I am here on... official business," Jareth chose his wording carefully.

Sarah raised an eyebrow, and the faerie continued. "There is a girl, in the Labyrinth. Her named is Kaye- at least, that is the name she goes by. A pixie."

Sarah nodded. "Yes. I heard about her from Hoggle. She defeated Nicnevin, one of the queens, right?"

"Erm... indirectly, yes," Jareth replied. He was there to stir up trouble, nothing more. His lies and words had to be carefully planted. "But she has done something to the solitary faeries- the type that your friends are, if I recall."

Sarah was now alert. "What?"

Jareth gave a tiny, smug smile. "She has caused chaos among them. Because of her meddling, she has caused rifts in the mortal world and the Underground." It was not a total lie, Jareth reasoned, as faeries could not lie. It had occured, when Kaye had fled from being the tithe as a pawn of the solitary fey. For a while, it did cause chaos, which had mostly been mended. But it happened, so telling Sarah was not a total lie.

The monarch continued. "And now she threatens to take my labyrinth," Still not a lie, as take could mean conquer, meaning defeat, and Kaye was a threat as she might defeat his labyrinth. "So I ask for your assistance."

Slowly, Sarah nodded. She didn't consider what Jareth might be doing- Sarah simply worried for her friends. And if this pixie might cause them harm, she would just have to defeat Kaye.

After all, Sarah had defeated the labyrinth. A pixie shouldn't cause too much trouble for her.

* * *

Meanwhile, within the castle of the Unseelie Faeries, Rath Roiben Rye was enraged.

"How dare anyone volunteer Kaye for Jareth's damned labyrinth!" Roiben thought. The girl, his queen, had been through quite a lot of crap coming to the world of faery and the courts, and Roiben was not about to allow her to go through this unassisted.

Roiben's temper hadn't been soothed when he found out that Jareth was pitting a champion of the labyrinth against Kaye. All Roiben cared about was that was cheating.

So Roiben would cheat as well. He called the only people he could think of to assist Kaye.


	3. Chapter 3

Jareth was now, once again, reclining in his throne room, littered with animals and alcohol and goblins. He did try ever so hard to keep it clean, but the deed had proven itself impossible with his subjects constantly hanging around the premises.

But the Goblin King found no reason to be distraught. His Sarah was under the misguided belief that Kaye had hurt her friends, and that she might gain power if she conquered the labyrinth. As much as Sarah claimed to hate Jareth (for Jareth insisted she only claimed this; he still did long for her), she was willing to compromise for her friends.

Which reminded him, he had a mortal to escort into the labyrinth.

* * *

Sarah noticed that, as she entered the Underground, she regained her youth. It had been several years, she recalled, since she triumphed over the labyrinth in 1986.

"To make it easier to maneuver the Labyrinth- though, you may keep it as a gift, if you will merely stay-" Jareth began to offer, but was cut off by Sarah.

"No," She answered. "I'm only here to help Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ludo, and everyone else. Take me to where I can do that."

Jareth grinned, and ever so slightly bowed his head. "As you wish," he replied, and they were in the labyrinth.

Sarah remembered this place. It was where she had marked the tiles that were changed, and also held the doors with the riddle.

Jareth handed her a sword. "This sword is iron, poisonous to faeries. Slay the pixie if you must, but if the iron wards her away, feel free to leave her be."

Sarah examined the sword. The hilt was made of the crystals Jareth used, but the blade was indeed iron. Sarah remembered she had taken a few fencing classes, perhaps now they would come in handy.

Jareth was gone, and Sarah could only wait for the pixie.

* * *

"Hello, Roi- your highness," Val greeted Roiben.

Roiben remembered her, and her deeds, despite being mortal. If Jareth would play with a female champion, Roiben would as well.

"So... What's the deal?" Val inquired. Roiben didn't summon her so seriously so often.

"Kaye. She has been brought to test the labyrinth..." Roiben didn't get to finish.

"I know," Val explained. "Ravus told me. Rather hot topic. What can I do for you about it, Roiben?"

Roiben replied, "Jareth is cheating. Sarah- the only person yet to beat the Labyrinth- he lied to in order to make her fight against Kaye with an iron-blade sword."

Val tensed. She didn't know much of Jareth, but her and Kaye and Lolli had become rather close. She gripped her sword that Ravus had given her. "And I'm to go in, and...?"

"Try to reason with Sarah. Don't let them fight. If all three of you work together and defeat the Labyrinth, Jareth will not be able to rise to power again for a long time," Roiben elaborated.

Val nodded.

* * *

Kaye had made it out of the first part of the labyrinth, something she took comfort in. The next place was similar; like the place before it, but more sunny and open.

Kaye was rather calm, until she heard steps behind her. She turned around, and saw a girl, brunette and about her age... running at her? Kaye felt a pang of anxiety upon seeing that the girl had an iron blade.

"What are you doing!?" Kaye exclaimed, dodging out of the girl's way.

The pixie was not totally sure what she had just gotten herself into.


End file.
